


Can't handle the heat? (Try me.)

by Ephemeral_Joy



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/M, Flirting, Mutual Pining, Summer, Unresolved Tension, heat wave, thirst trap
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-22
Updated: 2021-01-22
Packaged: 2021-03-14 04:53:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28914906
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ephemeral_Joy/pseuds/Ephemeral_Joy
Summary: Heat waves in LA are anything but pleasant, especially when in close vicinity to your hot ghost guitarist and he is doing everything in his power to make you flustered. Luckily, Julie is not one to back out of a fight. Or, well, a game of flirting.
Relationships: Julie Molina/Luke Patterson
Comments: 28
Kudos: 235





	Can't handle the heat? (Try me.)

**Author's Note:**

> someone asked me about the boys sweating and i started blabbing about physiological responses cause i'm an idiot and then someone gifted us with the glorious concept of the band during a heat wave and then i begged ON MAIN for someone to make a fic and then two did and then, like the clown i am, made one myself. we've gone rogue. woops.
> 
> if that shit interests you, here's the cursed tumblr: @lydias--stiles
> 
> edited | not beta'd | T as in Troy? No, T as in Thirst Trap. |

_ “Put that AC on, folks! It’s gonna be a whopping 105 degrees today and it’s not going down any time soon! Best to stay inside and keep your head in the fridge! Next up - “Positions” by Ariana Grande!” _

The band groaned as the radio host clicked off, Ariana Grande blaring through the stereo. The sweltering heat had them all on the floor, fanning their faces with composition papers and one measly portable fan. It did shit, but there was nothing else available in the studio. Reggie’s face was completely red, Alex’s hair has turned brown from sweat and Julie was this close to begging them to teleport her to the Arctic. Everyone was beat. Well… all except  _ one  _ person. 

Luke Patterson would literally be the death of her.  _ And  _ the second death of the boys. 

Though sweating like a pig as well, no heatwave could temper that perpetual energy of his. 

“Come on, guys!” His foot prodded Alex’s side, the blonde swatting him away. “It’s just a lil’ heat. Nothing we’re not used to.”

Alex groaned. “Dude, those lights in the 90′s were for thirty minutes, max. This has been going on for  _ days.” _

“Literally!”, added Reg. 

Julie hoisted herself up, cringing at the way her body was suctioned against the cement floor. “I think we just have to wait it out until this ends.”

“It’s LA,” he deadpanned. “It never ends.”

Ugh. He was right. Summers in Los Angeles felt like simmering in an oven for months on end, hot enough to hallucinate, just cool enough to not actually die. It didn’t help that the trees were burning too. There was no shadow or shade for the Californians to hide beneath. 

“Come on, Jules,” he grinned, giving her that face he knew she couldn’t deny. It was an unfair move of his, but she had also been secretly hoping to play a little. Days without music felt like not breathing properly, or sleeping on the wrong side and having a kink in your neck after. Music was, despite the heat, still the thing that tipped her over the edge. And when Luke asked her with that sweet smile… 

It  _ probably  _ helped he looked good all sweaty like that. She couldn’t even feel embarrassed about it. She was seventeen and he was seventeen  _ and  _ hot and it was the only logical reaction one could have.

She sighed. “Fine.” Holding her hand out, he went to grab it and pulled her up - too hard. Julie flew forward with a squeak, straight into his chest. Instinctively, she grabbed onto his warm shoulders to steady herself while he gripped her waist. Both froze, mortified.

Because they’ve been here before. 

Last summer, after a gig in a tiki bar, the boys and her had been dancing on the beach. Far enough for no one to suspect anything, close enough to still hear the music. Luke and her had been wrapped around each other, executing salsa and tango steps miserably but having fun either way. She’d been giggling uncontrollably and he couldn’t keep the beam of his face when all of a sudden, their lips were a brush away. If Reggie hadn’t exclaimed he “found” Patrick Star, she was keenly aware of what  _ would’ve  _ happened. They didn’t talk about it. Afterwards, Julie filed it in the “Luke Patterson, My Idiot Crush”-map of her brain and that was that. 

His body was buzzing with warmth and his muscles rippled under her fingers and his shirt clung to his chest. Her physique probably left little to the imagination too right now. In her fantasies, she’d give into the tug behind her navel and let the fever pitch between them overwhelm her. Dig her fingers into his neck and finally satiate her curiosity about what his lips tasted like. (And if the way his fingers twitched on the small of her back was any indication, he was thinking the same thing.) 

As if her thoughts burned, Julie let go and settled her eyes back on the boys. They were, of course, eating it up like the bastards they were. 

She clapped her hands, voice an octave higher than usual. “Come on, guys! One run through!” 

Fortunately, everything went back to normal. They were still huffing and puffing, but Reggie was smiling as he found the bassline and Alex discovered that the slam of the drum relieved some heat and Luke was, you know,  _ Luke. _ Julie pushed the moment to back of her mind. She only allowed herself to fully indulge in her dreams.

It was hard though. His hair was pushed back and his muscles were  _ glistening  _ like some CW character and with the heatwave, he had somehow become hotter. Did he get a tan? Was that possible? Regardless, Julie’s stomach was in knots. She tried her hardest to give him neutral glances and  _ not  _ like she wanted to slide her hands up his arms.  _ Dios mio, _ get a fucking grip, Molina.

But then it happened. She should’ve known it would happen. And there was only Reggie to blame.

One run through became five and by then, every pore on their skin was drenched. If only she had a pool. Maybe she should text Kayla after this, beg her to let her use it. As she was debating on that, Reggie pulled his wife beater off. Which was fine. It was Reggie. It was like seeing Carlos run around shirtless after a shower. Five minutes later, Alex exchanged his t-shirt for one of Willie’s crop tops. That also, was fine. She was itching to remove her top as well, a bikini underneath, but she wasn’t sure if her nerves could handle it. 

And then Luke set his guitar down with an annoyed puff and threw his muscle tee on the ground. Julie stilled. Was he going to…? Nope. He wasn’t reaching for another tank. This was it. This was where she joined them on the side of the unliving. His chest was defined and smooth, abs peeking through the skin. This boy was  _ stupidly  _ hot. It felt illegal: a seventeen year old sculpted like Apollo. Her breathing quickened just like that. 

If she thought her throat was dry from the heat, she was mistaken. Julie swallowed back saliva, licked her lips and forced herself to stop ogling. Her actions weren’t fast enough though, Luke having noticed and grinning like he won the lottery. Shit. 

He sauntered closer, eyes gleaming with mischief and challenge. She held it, levelling his intensity with her own. “Can’t handle a little  _ heat,  _ Jules?” 

Internally, she was happy to be sitting behind her keyboard. Externally though, she could  _ not  _ let him win. If his cocky attitude was normally dialled on five, it was now up to eleven.  _ Try me, Luke.  _

She stood up and gave him an unimpressed once-over. “I’m happy you guys are getting comfortable,” she said to Alex and Reg. “Okay if I do too?”

The two nodded, Alex barely holding in a snicker and Reggie letting one out anyway. Luke’s eyes widened, bravado crashing to the floor as he put the pieces together. 

“W-wait, wha-?”

Julie grabbed the hem of her shirt and shed it off her skin. She sighed -  _ finally,  _ some relief from this fucking heat - and let the advantage of surprise push her to throw a prideful smirk his way. Her bikini top was nothing special, but if  _ she  _ had to suffer, then so did he. 

His eyes flickered from her chest to her face, stammering and paralysed and yeah, she felt pretty damn attractive right now. She was going to relish this moment till the end of time. Smiling innocently, she leaned forward. 

“Something you wanna say, Luke?” 

Frantically shaking his head, he backed away, fingers clenching around his guitar and retreating to his designated spot.  _ Checkmate. _ The boys were leaning against each other, giggling. 

“Nope,” he coughed, fixing a stressed smile. “Let’s just keep going, yeah?”

(When later that day Luke and Julie were cleaning up the studio by themselves and he quietly told her she looked pretty in blue, the tension resolved. She then told him his green eyes popped in the sunlight and after, they smiled at each other for a beat. Not heated or shy - just smiling. Open and achingly genuine. It felt like a promise, a hopeful wish that their moment on the beach would happen again.) 

(It would. Two weeks later, right at the end of the heatwave as they played at yet another tiki bar, Luke pulled her aside. Sweaty and sandy and happy, they met the other halfway for a warm kiss.)

Yeah, they could handle the heat. 

**Author's Note:**

> julie and luke kissing on the beach at night when the sun is almost gone and there's faraway music and chatter but they only focus on each other and they're so warm and her lips taste like sweet lemonade so now his do too. oof. 
> 
> also: 
> 
> "Lover of mine, maybe we'll take some time  
> Kaleidoscope mind gets in the way
> 
> Dance around the living room  
> Lose me in the sight of you  
> I've seen the red, I've seen the blue" - lover of mine, 5sos
> 
> major juke vibes. or maybe i'm just obsessed with the red/blue motif


End file.
